Our Travel Grant Winners at Defence is the Best Attack 2023

PhD Student, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Research: The human body faces threats from intracellular infections, including viruses, tumour cells, and other pathogens. When this happens, the CD8+ T cells are activated, which represents a major immunological response since they can eliminate either infected or transformed cells. Recombinant live bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, have been tested as delivery vectors for novel vaccine strategies. Because the host immune response against such vectors depends on the pyroptosis machinery, we decided to investigate whether deficiencies in some key molecules in this pathway would interfere with the in vivo induction of OVA-specific CD8+ T cell immune response triggered by recombinant live bacteria.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

The poster presentation session was a very good one, as I got to interact with several students and researchers across the globe to discuss their ongoing research and future directions. Likewise, I was able to share some insights in regards to my own research, too. Several ideas and suggestions were made on how I could improve my work, and some relevant techniques and tools that could be used were discussed. Also, all the talks were extraordinary, unique and amazing. It was really good to listen to the crosstalk and interplay between the basic sciences and the clinic.

Were there any networking highlights you want to tell us about?

It was a great privilege to listen and chat with Professor Gabriel Rabinovich from the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine/CONICET, Argentina. He gave a presentation on the emerging role of glyco-checkpoints in cancer: the sweet side of immunotherapy. During the presentation, he made mention of galectins as soluble and highly expressed in the tumour microenvironments and are involved in immune evasion in several cancers. We exchanged emails to discuss a possible collaboration as regards galectins and the induction of CD8+ T cells in cancer. Also, I met a colleague from Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research which might be a possible place for my Postdoc. One of the exhibitors (SB-Peptide) became a good friend and gave me some ideas about the use of their products.

Did you take part in any interesting local or cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?

After the conference, I had the opportunity to visit ancient places like the Barcelona Cathedral, Casa Batilo, Casa Segrada, and other historical centers in Barcelona where I learned about the history of the Catalans. Also, I visited the Camp Nou stadium which is the official home ground for Barcelona football club. It was a great experience for me. Also, I had the opportunity to make a technical visit to the Hospital Oncologia in Barcelona where I met with a Professor to discuss a possible collaboration.

How has the conference inspired you in your research?

The conference inspired me in many ways; right from the speakers to the poster sessions. It was really interesting to discuss and share ideas with other scientists, clinicians and also get their views on my research. Now, I have great ideas to be used to improve my research and get great results.

When you got home, is there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about?

I showed them the program booklet and actually mentioned one or two things from each presentation. Also, I discussed the poster sessions and highlighted some posters that were outstanding and found interesting personally such as poster 1 (The efficacy of chemotherapy is limited by intratumoural senescent cells that persist through the upregulation of PD-L2 by Jose Alberto Lopez-Dominguez, IRB), poster 10 (Intratumoral immunotherapy with mRNAs encoding chimeric protein constructs encompassing IL-12, CD137 agonists and TGF-antagonists by Assunta Cima IDISNA, Spain), poster 17, 18, 20, 50 and 90.

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research?

A lot of ideas and knowledge will greatly benefit and contribute to my research, such as different vaccine vectors and strategies, techniques, experimental designs, and most especially the immune competent assay and some insights on the use of flow cytometry.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Finally, the conference was well organised, with great speakers and an outstanding scientific committee.

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PhD Student, GIGA Cancer Signalling, Liège, Belgium.

Research: The aim of my research is to discover new vulnerabilities in melanoma through main actor of mRNA translation: transfer RNA (tRNA). The project screened ~50 enzymes that modify the tRNA around the anticodon, and potential candidates were depleted in melanoma cell line and inoculated in mice to assess the impact of the immune system. Interestingly, loss of one of our candidates leads to a significant tumour shrinkage that is T cells dependent, relying on a strong activation of inflammation pathway and defence mechanism.

Were there any social or networking highlights you want to tell us about?

I was happy to have at my poster one of the speakers I wanted to talk to. Indeed, she had a clinical approach that I wanted to add to my project. And so, we discussed in front of the poster how could we potentially target my gene in therapy, how can I translate it to clinical benefit. She offered to give me some patient data to work on, and I am sure in the future that this could lead to a collaboration.

How has the conference inspired you in your research?

The inspiration that this conference brought me was beyond expectation. It allowed me to step back from my data and the project, re-focus, and think differently. Be less mechanistic and be more clinical/therapeutic. Of course both are needed, but how I wanted to orientate my project, it is more like I’ve seen during this conference. As well, the “meet the scientific committee” was a nice moment. To have the opportunity to hear their reflections on their story and their look at the future was a great perspective.

When you got home, is there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about?

I’ve already done that during the meeting by itself, texting my colleague to first tell them how high the level was. There were incredible ideas. And as well, this conference gave me some ideas about what the future research could turn into. We all want to be updated, but this is going further. Besides, I shared the possible collaboration we could start, with people that are specialists in the field (for example mRNA vaccine with Dr. Mustafa Diken, and melanoma patient data with Marisol Soengas).

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research?

I am starting to pay more attention to details of the figures, as I hope to publish soon. So I brought back some ways to represent my data, which can be a different way to show data or just a different type of graph. As well, what kind of specific marker is commonly accepted in the field to be sure that what I’m doing is correct. As well, I’ve seen how it is possible to use public patient data, and this will add more strength to my project.

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Postdoctoral Researcher, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Turkiye.

Research: Pancreatic cancer (PaCa) characteristically has a dense tumour microenvironment, which is dominantly responsible for poor patient prognosis. This dense microenvironment is mainly formed by fibroblasts and extracellular matrix components, especially collagen. PaCa tumours are defined as immunologically cold tumours since their microenvironment is highly immunosuppressive and does not allow the infiltration of cytotoxic immune cells such as natural killer (NK) cells. The dense microenvironment of PaCa is responsible for poor infiltration of cytotoxic immune cells. Therefore, one of the aims of my research is to decrease extracellular collagen assembly by targeting fibroblasts, thereby increasing the cytotoxic activity of natural killer (NK) cells.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

The conference was a great experience for listening to the latest updates about cancer research from an immunological perspective. As a young researcher, who is interested in immunology, listening to presentations of experts inspired me a lot. I was delighted to have a chance to present my poster and discuss it with the other researchers that gave me inspiration for future projects. Besides, I also visited exhibitors and met some companies which will be helpful to our ongoing projects.

How has the conference inspired you in your research?

I am specifically interested in fluorescent staining techniques. In some posters, I saw different stainings which inspired me for my current project (such as some stainings in macrophages). Besides, our group works on different genetically engineered mouse models for pancreatic cancer (such as KC and KPC). In the presentation of Tyler Jacks, he talked about the strategies for the presentation of neoantigen expression in KPC mouse models. It was quite interesting and inspiring for me.

When you got home, is there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about?

I really liked the “Poster Spotlights” sessions. We listened to a short presentation (3 minutes) of 3-selected abstracts in each session. It is not common in the conferences that are held in Turkey. Therefore, I mentioned that to my colleagues and students. It was so beneficial for attendees to catch the main idea of the study quickly. I think it was a great chance to support and encourage the young researchers to present their work.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Conferences with a specific theme, like the “Defence is the Best Attack” conference, are beneficial for researchers who want to catch up on the updates about their research interests and meet the experts. As a young researcher, I got the chance to observe what other researchers are doing and to see where I am in my career journey. Besides, the conference hall and poster area were really close to each other which also positively influence communication. In addition, the whole conference program was on time, which I think is a nice detail worth mentioning. Last but not the least, I have to mention the magnificent city of Barcelona, and the beautiful building of the conference venue, La Pedrera-Casa Mila. Attending a scientific event in this historical environment was an unforgettable memory.

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Assistant Professor, University Vita Salute San Raffaele (Milan, Italy) and Maastro Clinic (Maastricht, Netherlands)

Research: The goal of my research is to use Artificial Intelligence to build clinical decision support systems that can help selecting the best treatment for cancer patients. These algorithms help the doctors and the patients having an objective and data driven evaluation of the likelihood of response to treatment and the risk of therapy-induced side effects. They help us going beyond the capability of the human brain of processing a limited amount data and discover hidden relationships among big clinical data, medical imaging, and cancer biology.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

I came back with 10 pages of notes of interesting topics in the field of immuno-oncology that I want to study to further expand my research horizon. I enjoyed the high quality of the scientific content and the informal atmosphere that allowed me to interact not only with young investigators but also with faculty members, who were always open for discussion.

Were there any social or networking highlights you want to tell us about?

I met with scientists of different backgrounds than mine and this was a unique opportunity for me to expand my research horizon. I found potential collaborators for international grants that require to submit interdisciplinary projects.

Did you take part in any interesting local or cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?

The Conference Dinner on the rooftop terrace was enjoyable with an amazing view of Barcelona. I also watched the Champions league match Milan – Inter in a local bar.